BURPEE/CHIN: TWO NEW WORKS choreography by Susie Burpee and Peter Chin. Presented by Toronto Dance Theatre at the Winchester Street Theatre (80 Winchester). Opens Thursday (April 9) and runs to April 18, Wednesday-Saturday 8 pm, matinee Sunday 2 pm. $20-$26, mat pwyc. 416-967-1365, tdt.org.
Peter Chin came up with the title of his latest dance piece, Returning Empathis, before he created the dance.
“‘Empathis’ is an invented word that suggests empathy and emphasis,” says the choreographer a week before the piece goes up in a Toronto Dance Theatre double bill pairing him with Susie Burpee.
Chin has always drawn on empathy for different cultures not surprising given that he’s got a diverse ethnic background (born in Jamaica of Chinese, Irish and African descent) and works in a variety of disciplines including dance, music and visual art.
“‘Emphasis’ suggests repetition, urgency,” he says, “and ‘returning’ signifies going away and coming back. And that led me to contemplate reincarnation.”
The half-hour piece is based on a vision he had: an image of someone dancing for his peers, then leaving, and then, after time has passed, coming back and dancing for them again.
“It’s like a tableau,” explains Chin. “Four dancers sit down, and a solo dancer [TDT’s Naishi Wang] starts the piece by dancing for them and us in the audience. Then he leaves. The four migrate across the stage very slowly, and through lighting we get a sense of a different place and time. And then Naishi comes back a little bit different, and they’re not sure if he’s the same person.”
Chin pauses and laughs.
“This sounds so much like narrative – I can’t believe it! Okay, let me say that it’s abstract, but there’s this little bit of a story in there. That’s helped guide me through the process.”
Narrative or no, there’s always a distinct aesthetic to a Chin dance, drawing on his eclectic background and interests.
“I repeat certain motifs, sure,” he says. “There are some elements you might recognize, since I draw on influences from Tibet, martial arts and Southeast Asia in the movement and invention. And the music has various sources, some Tibetan, some from Burkina Faso and Madagascar, and there’s a Renaissance motet that’s been treated in a certain way.”
This year marks Chin’s 30th anniversary as a professional artist. He started out as a performance artist, sound poet and visual artist. The occasion has made him flirt with the idea of retiring.
“Maybe I’m half-joking,” he says. “But I feel as if there’s something new or another step ahead. A change.”
One of his most ambitious works to date, a piece called Woven, goes up this fall with DanceWorks. It’s a truly international piece with a cast drawn from four countries.
“That might kill me,” he says, laughing. “And then I’ll really want to retire.”
glenns@nowtoronto.com | @glennsumi
